


Lover, Hunter, Friend, and Enemy

by AlienAlkali



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Aanya being an absolute QUEEN, Action/Adventure, Also need more of the trouble making trio of Ezran Aanya and Ellis, Assassination Attempt(s), Because I haven't read it yet x), Bodyguard Runaan, Canon Divergence - One year after season 3, Comedy, Damn tumblr got Rasputin stuck in my head so there may be some minor crack in here, Ezran wish he were as cool as Aanya and Ellis, F/F, F/M, Flashbacks, Fluff, Found Family, Gen, I was gonna keep it Gen. but then fluff happened..., M/M, Making This Up As I Go, Minor Violence, Not canon compliant with Through The Moon, Sass, Sure there are ships but that's not the focus of this, Tags to be added, There's Black Panther quotes in here if your look hard enough, We need more stabby Runaan being Runaadad for Aanya, minor world building, protective Runaan
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-25
Updated: 2020-11-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 07:53:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27710033
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlienAlkali/pseuds/AlienAlkali
Summary: Being Queen since early childhood has its dangers. Such being that it makes you a target. So Aanya has to come up with creative ways to keep her throne, and some may or may not involve a certain assassin.Title by lyrics in Fleurie's songLove and War.Please note that I do not mean lover in a romantic sense, just someone who has a strong bond, if that makes sense.
Relationships: Aanya & Ellis & Ezran (The Dragon Prince), Aanya & Ellis (The Dragon Prince), Aanya & Ezran (The Dragon Prince), Annika/Neha (The Dragon Prince) (Mentioned), Ava & Ellis (The Dragon Prince), Azymondias & Callum & Rayla (The Dragon Prince), Azymondias & Ezran (The Dragon Prince), Azymondias & Rayla, Bait & Ezran (The Dragon Prince), Callum & Ezran & Rayla (The Dragon Prince), Callum/Rayla (The Dragon Prince), Ellis & Ezran (The Dragon Prince), Ethari/Runaan (The Dragon Prince), Rayla & Runaan (The Dragon Prince), Runaan & Aanya
Comments: 18
Kudos: 30





	Lover, Hunter, Friend, and Enemy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks to @beautifulterriblequeen for allowing me to use one of her headcanons and for sparking my sudden need for wholesome Runaan & Aanya content. You can find her original post on tumblr under the same name. I also craved more Ezran & Aanya & Ellis content, so here you go! I also wanted some more Annika/Neha content, so stay tuned.
> 
> Most importantly: IF YOU EVER HAVE IDEAS AND HCS THAT YOU WANT _USED IN HERE,_ SHARE! I get most of my inspiration from external sources. I'm no genius. XD

Pounding against the forest floor is all he heard. Loud and powerful pounding in the quiet forest. Huffing. The sound of small creatures fleeing the startling noise. It sounded like a larger human running, but he knew better. Pounding, closer and closer still.

“Come on! Almost there!” the child encouraged as loud as she dared. They might have thought they were alone, but something about these woods...

“Come on, girl! So close--”

But the small child and her companion stopped as soon as dark blue landed soundlessly in front of them, purple stripes shadowed by the darkness of the forest. Tall, powerful, and dangerous.

“You-you’re a-a...”

The shadows cast a look of death on him as he slowly made his way forward. The girl’s heart rate picked up and her companion made a quiet whimpering noise, ready to protect her friend.

“Say it.”

“You’re... an assassin. A moonshadow elf assassin.”

He hummed, reaching for an arrow behind him, face still shadowed. “And what do assassins do?”

The little girl gulped. “You kill.”

His whole being radiated a dark, dangerous energy as he made his way forward, nocking the arrow to his bow. “Why?”

“I-I... I don’t know.” A tear fell down her face.

She had to shut her eyes as the assassin before her drew his bow, not sure what came after death...

 _FWOOSH!_

Another breath. 

_THUNK!_

Another day...

She whimpered, a shuttering breath as the body hit the ground. Confused, she looked up to find the assassin standing just barely in front of her, looking at the ground away from the small girl.

She turned around and found a body laying on the ground behind her, a dagger discarded on the forest floor beside them.

Another life...

But not hers.

.  
.  
.

Ezran paced the throne room with Bait in his arms as Aanya sat on her throne reading an agreement and jotting down notes, the epitome of calm. Ezran wished he had as much experience and patience as her, but was quick to dismiss the idea. Aanya didn’t have the luxury of enjoying even part of her childhood, and although she had more experience than himself, her authority was questioned more than his own. He was seen as childish and irrational, she was seen as hot-headed and disagreeable. 

_“I make a good queen because I am stubborn,” he remembered her saying. “If people don’t like me because I am decisive and prefer tactics over rash decisions, then that’s their problem.”_

Still, he couldn’t help but be amazed.

Aanya set her pen down to take a sip of tea from the small table next to her. “They’re fine.”

He sighed. “I know, but I still worry. After all, the world isn’t safe _quite_ yet.”

“That will come with patience.”

Another heavy sigh. “I know.”

Several more minutes passed as they waited for their late guests to arrive. “I wonder what’s--”

The doors swung open as their guests were announced, Ezran and Aanya stopping what they were doing to greet them. 

“Ellis! Ava!” Ellis giggled as Ezran embraced her, Ava coming forward excitedly to lick him, tail wagging. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

Aanya stepped forward for a hug as well. Ellis and Ava had visited Katolis Castle a few months back and Aanya had coincidentally been there, the two girls quickly becoming good friends. 

“I’m so glad to see you both as well! I had a bit of a delay, though...”

It was at that moment that they both seemed to notice the man behind her. They raised their eyebrows in surprise, immediately recognising the man.

“Runaan! What are you doing here?”

The elf in question bowed his head slightly, a sign of respect. “Well, I was asked by General Amaya for a favour to track someone down since Corvus was busy, and naturally I came across your friend here. Thought I would stick around to make sure she didn’t get into any more trouble. My apologies for arriving unannounced.”

“That, and I was lost,” Ellis admitted.

“Well, Duren is glad to have you with us,” Aanya commented. She and the other human kingdoms had been working hard for the past year to mend their relationship with Xadia and she didn’t want all that hard word to be for nothing. Besides, Runaan had proved himself smart and reasonable in the most recent agreement.

He made eye contact with the child queen, and suddenly the memories rushed in. She had grown to be such a strong and wise queen, and Runaan could only guess at how knowledgeable she will be in the future years to come. “Thank you. Your hospitality is treasured.”

“How are things back in the Silvergrove? Are the other assassins taking the new agreement well?”

Runaan took a moment to think about that before answering carefully, folding his hands behind his back. “I’d say so. Many were put off balance for a bit, and some still are, but I think it will work out just fine. Majority have taken up special training for the dragonguard, but some, such as myself, have chosen a different path.”

The young queen drew her eyebrows together. “Oh?”

The former assassin nodded. “I’ve decided on becoming a person bodyguard for those who need me, such as royalty, politicians, and such. I do believe I needed to meet with you and King Ezran soon to discuss that. Another benefit of arriving here.”

The recent agreement made between the human kingdoms and the Silvergrove stated that the assassin corpse be disbanded since there will no longer be a need for it. It also put the humans’ minds at rest, knowing they will no longer have to look over their shoulders every time they travel near the border.

She hummed. They would probably discuss more about what he had in mind over dinner. But Ezran was still bothered. “What about Ethari?”

Runaan’s expression softened at the mention of his husband. “Well, I only plan on being employed part of the time and will often only accompany others during their travels instead of being with them all the time, so not much will have changed from our life before, except now I won’t be called for emergency missions and the job is safer.”

The three children nodded their understanding. Still, after everything that Runaan had been through, Ezran thought that he would have retired instead. _Well, I suppose that he is only thirty-six._

Aanya tucked that piece of information away for later. “Well, then you must be happy to hear that Callum and Rayla will be joining us later.”

“Is that so?”

.  
.  
.

“CALLUM, THIS ISN’T FUNNY!”

“What are you talking about? Sure it is-- THWP!” he shouted over the wind when a piece of Rayla’s hair got caught in his mouth. His girlfriend giggled from below where she clung to him for dear life. Hadn’t they talked about Rayla putting her hair up when they traveled? “You know, I could drop you--”

“Don’t.” Her tone took a serious edge to it as she glared at him. “Besides, you would never do that.”

“You’re right,” he claimed softly, craning his neck to press a kiss to her lips.

“Callum, you do realise that I’m technically on duty right now, right?”

“Pssshh! You said duty,” he snickered. She couldn’t help but crack a smile at his immature comment. What a dork. “Here, I’m going to land for a moment, hold tight.”

“What do you think I was doing beFORE--”

Callum switched to a vertical position as he approached the tall mountain, flapping his wings as he stretched his legs to land.

“See? I told you I had you.” He pecked her lips as he wrapped his now human arms around her waist snuggly.

“No, it was more like me who had you.” She still had her legs around his hips and her arms around his neck when she leaned forward for a deeper kiss, only to be interrupted by Zym.

Callum rolled his eyes with a smile. “I’m sorry. You’re right, Zym. I shouldn’t be snogging your personal bodyguard while she’s on duty.”

The small dragon squinted before giving a huff. Rayla untangled herself from Callum and started brushing out her hair with her fingers as they all caught their breaths from flying at a high altitude. _I really need to get Ethari to invent something for me to make air travel easier._ They’d spent the past day and a half traveling by air and having to stop regularly so no one tired, especially Rayla, who used all the muscles in her body to hold on. They preferred to stay near the mountains as it allowed them to travel at a higher altitude and gave them somewhere to land quickly if anyone got tired.

Rayla followed Zym to the edge of the cliff and sat down with her legs dangling off the edge, taking in the scenery. “Look, Callum. We’re so close. I think I can see the castle from here. It’s so beautiful.”

The mage came forward and smiled softly, glancing between the landscape and his girlfriend. “Yes. It is.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For all confused about section one of the chapter, Runaan only talked to her to keep her distracted from the human murderer behind her, which she was unaware of. He wanted to keep up the façade that _he_ was going to kill her so that the murderer didn't make any sudden moves.
> 
> We get some Aanya and Runaan history content next chapter!! Don't be afraid to tell me how I'm doing!

**Author's Note:**

> Take care and stay soft!!!


End file.
